'Commercial films create calamity': Sanskrit film maker

Pitching for artistically-made cinema to act as an unifying force universally, Dr G Prabha, the maker of the first Sanskrit film on a social theme, today said that commercial films cause 'calamity'. "A commercial film creates calamity. It comes with gusto and goes away quickly. It has no shelf-life. It gives a lower-level pleasure," Dr Prabha, a journalist-turned-Sanskirt teacher-turned-filmmaker, said on the sidelines of the Guwahati International Film Festival here. He added that entertainment is a part of cinema, but it should appease to the intellect and not merely be for the sake of pleasure. He said, "Cinema is not only a means to make money, but it should be a medium to analyse and present a culture and establish links with people of other cultures. The visual language of cinema is universal and it can work as a force to unify people." "It is a very powerful medium to bring people from different walks of life together," he added. Explaining his choice of Sanskrit for his feature film 'shti', Dr Prabha, who has retired as the Head of Oriental Languages of Loyola College, Chennai, said, I felt Sanskrit was the most appropriate language for the film. Also, there are no feature films on social issues made in this language." Two Sanskrit language feature films were made earlier, but both were on religious or mytholigical issues. "Sanskrit has no platform. The whole nation owns it but it has no state of its own,"" he pointed. Undettered by the case slapped on him by an organisation for his first film, Dr Prabha is planning on his second Sanskrit language feature film.An organisation called Brahmina Kshema Sabha has filed a case against the Censor Board and Dr Prabha for the film 'Ishti', which narrates the story of a woman's struggle for breaking through patriarchial chains by using knowledge as the liberator. The story is set in a conservative Namboodiri Brahmin family in the 1940s and is based on extensive research undertaken by Dr Prabha to portray those times with accuracy. He accepted that getting producers or distributors for Sanskrit films is very difficult, which had forced him to bear all expenses of his first movie. "Producers and distributors view cinema as an industry. But art cannot be an industry alone. State governments, agencies and festivals can present us a platform to highlight our works,"he added.UNI SG AND